SAO: Assassins
by Skyecute877
Summary: Skye Torosame was born and raised by Assassins, and is the second ranked Assassin in the world, little did she know that her newest job would change her life as she knew it. Follow Skye as she embarks on her journey through Sword Art Online.
1. Chapter 1

**Writers Note:** As I said before, I took my other SAO fanfiction down and have already begun to write a new one. I hope you all come to like this one as much as the old one, although this time I took a completely different route with the story.

Chapter 1: The Start of a New World

Most people shun killing, as if it's the work of the devil himself. They dispise the act of killing, and they block out the thought of it. But deep down, everyone is a killer. We all have that anger deep down inside, were just afraid to let it out.. Me? I let that anger out long ago, when I was 9 years old actually.. You don't believe me? Ask my dad, he guided me through it all. That day I unleashed a power inside me, that I never knew I even had. Killing is normal in my family, we run an Assassin Organization. We are killers, and thieves. I was born into this way of life, but if I wasn't, it would have been my first choice. The Assassin life, is the life for me.

I'm Skye Torosame, born and raised by Assassins. I am the second highest ranked Assassin in my families organization, my father outranks me by a landslide. I also have a brother, my mother died on a mission 3 years ago, turns out the victim was the captain of a police force. He shot her in the head, I never understood why mother didn't just shoot him first, it was her job to kill him. We all mourned, and then we moved on with our lives. We are killers, we watch people die daily, we even have to kill the people we get close to. My mothers death was sad, yes, but everyone dies eventually. My brother is 2 years older than me, but hes a much lower rank. He doesn't enjoy our lives as much as I do, hes more into videogames and sports. My father is the head of it all, his grandfather was the founder of our organization. My dad eventually took the position as head of the organization. Although we are an underground facility, we get a lot more jobs then one would expect. We have a complicated way of attracting business but it works and it keeps our organization a secret.

I've never had many friends, I have no need for them. The people I'm closest to are the employees that I see nearly everyday. I have made many close friends in the past, but they were only victims that required a built friendship. I don't know why people request this, but they pay more when you befriend them first. There was one girl who I actually really liked, her and I would do our nails and tell our deepest darkest secrets together, and all that other girly-type stuff. She was really interesting, and caring. I was a bit mad at myself for becoming attached to her, but it surely didn't get in the way of her death. After that I never let myself get emotionally attached to a victim.

" Skye, I have a job for you, you will be leaving tonight. " My dad spoke from the other side of the door, hesitating to enter. I felt like he was sometimes intimidated of me, being a teenage girl. What does he think I do in my room anyways?

" You may come in, dad. " The door then slowly opened, and a cool breeze seeped in. Chills ran down my spine and my body shivered, but the cold wasn't really a problem to me. " Where is it and what am I supposed to do?"

" It's an extremely different job, from what you're used to.. " He looked down at the floor, he looked a bit upset. His hands were in his pockets, and he slouched. This was unusual for him, hes usually the most formal and upright man I know, and he never hesitated to tell me about my job. " You will be gone for a very long time, it could be months, it could be years. You will have no contact with me, or anyone else you know.. "

What kind of job is this? I've never had a job where there is no contact with my dad, even when I'm halfway accross the world my communication gear worked like a charm, what the hell is he talking about? " What do you mean..? What kind of job is this? "

" I'll try to explain it the best I can, but it's a bit difficult.. " He hesitated, " Have you heard of the new game Sword Art Online? It's to be released tomorrow afternoon.. "

" Yeah..? " A videogame? What does this crap have to do with my job.

" Turns out the game is made to be a deathtrap, once they start playing the game they're locked in for life. The only way out is for someone to beat the game. "He paused and looked at me, I was intrigued. What an amazing idea. " Some of the developers want to have some fun with it, they are forming a group of Assassins to come into the game and kill. When a player dies in the game, they die in real life. They're paying a lot of money, and you body will be looked after by trusted doctors for the entire time you're in the game. " I was now excited, I get to take my job to a whole new level with this.

" I'm in, I won't let you down father. " I smiled at him, I was surprised he asked me to carry out this job because of the amount of time it will take and the lack of communication.

" We will have a goodbye-party for you tonight before you leave.. " And with that he left, I then turned on my laptop and looked up the game. There weren't many tips or hints for the game, just screenshots and the basic " how to " guide. I then remembered that my brother was a beta tester for this game, I shut my laptop hopped off my bed and scurried to Shauns room.

I knocked. " Skye..? " My brother yelled from inside.

" Yeah can I come in? "

" Please do. " I walked into the room and shut the door behind me, he was playing a browser game on his computer. " I heard about your job, I'm a bit jealous that you got it. "

" Yeah, I'm excited.. "

" You came to ask me for tips right? " Typical Shaun, he liked to act like he knew everything. Half of the time he was just assuming things and they turned out to be true.

" Yeah! You were a Beta tester right! " I sat down on his bed and watched him play, he was doing a million things at once as he played.

" Yep, but I'm contemplating whether I should tell you now, or later.. " He spoke hesitantly,

" What difference does it make? "

" I could tell you now, but I think it would be easier to tell you tomorrow.. "

" Shaun, I'm leaving tonight.. "

" I know, but were both going to be in the same place tomorrow so why not wait? " So that's what he meant, he wanted to go into the game too, not to kill, but just to play the game.

" Dad won't like that Shaun.. "

" I'm 18, dad can't tell me what to do. I have a friend who will take care of me while I'm playing. "

" So you're leaving? " It might be a good thing that I'll be able to communicate with Shaun atleast.

" Yeah, tonight. Just like you. "

" Could you still tell me so important tips now? "

" I guess so.. " He let out a sigh and proceeded to tell me everything he knew about the game, after he was finally finished the good-bye party was about to begin.

Every employee of the organization attended, a lot of people told me how much they liked me and that they will miss me. Some taunted me saying " When you get back I'll have outranked you already! " and most of the females cried and hugged me. Shaun stood around like a statue, nobody knew he was leaving too, so nobody paid much attention to him. After the party I said goodbye to my father, and the limo driver escorted me inside and drove off to the airport. Once I reached the airport I said goodbye to the driver, i've known him since I was a little girl. I then proceeded inside the airport where the pilot of my families jet awaited.

" Nice to see you again Skye, " He turned and started to walk to the back of the airport, where the jet was waiting.

" Yes, it's been quite a while since I had such a distant job. Where am I going anyways? "

" Japan, it's where the game was made so thats obviously where the developers live. They have a very nice mansion too, this job is different than usual right? "

" Yes, I will have no contact with anyone from the outside and once I start I can't quit. It may take years to complete, too. "

" Well I wish you goodluck, and I look forward to flying you home when the job is completed. "

The pilot was a good friend of my dads, we always had nice conversations when I used the private jet. The flight lasted for hours, I slept through most of it. I was the only passenger on the jet this time, usually there is atleast one other Assassin with me. When I arrived at the airport in Tokyo, Japan there was a driver holding a sign with my name. I was afraid he didn't speak english so I walked up and smiled. He nodded and gestured for me to come with him. I followed him to the limo and we drove off. About an hour and a half later we finally arrived at a mansion far away from the city. It was hidden behind trees and wildlife, there were barely any other houses or people nearby. The driver opened my door and escorted me out, he then tipped his hat to me and got back into the drivers seat and drove off. I waved goodbye as he went.

I then turned towards the mansion, it was a bit smaller than my mansion, but it's not like it mattered anyways. I walked up the front steps and rung the doorbell, a hansome butler opened the door and greeted me.

" You must be Skye, come in, everyone else has already arrived. " I walked inside and he shut the door behind me. I stopped and waited for him to lead the way and he stepped in front of me. We walked through the endless hallway saying nothing. " Were lucky to have you aboard, you are the best out of all the assassins we have hired for this job.. "

" Oh, thank you. My father taught me everything I know. " He walked slowly, it was a bit irritating. I wanted to get there fast paced but I couldn't be rude and budge in front of him.

" It's my pleasure, I'm sure the other assassins are intimidated to have you working with them. "

" Aha, well surely I'm not that great. "

" Oh, but you are. " He then stopped in front of a room at the very end of the hallway. " After you, " He gestured me to go into the room and I opened the door. Inside there were several beds and computers set up on the right side of the room. The beds looked extremely comfy, to the left side of the room there was a bunch of doctors equipment. In the middle of the room some people sat around in a circle, talking amongst eachother. " Sir, Skye Torosame has arrived. " The butler announced my arrival and the room grew quiet, the people who were talking suddenly stopped and looked at me, saying nothing.

The oldest looking person then opened his mouth to finally speak. " It's an honor to have you, Skye! "

" Th-thank you. It's an honor to be here, sir. " I replied awkwardly, everyone was still staring.

The butler then smiled at me, and whispered. " See, I told you they were intimidated. " He then raised his voice " I must go check on the maids house work, good bye everyone. "

" Goodbye.. " I spoke softly, and then looked up to the other people. There five of them standing there, a chubby one with dark hair, two tall guys, one had black hair and yellow eyes and the other had brown hair and green eyes. A young looking boy with blonde hair and brown eyes. There was also a pair of twins, they both had White hair and Blue eyes. The older looking man had glasses and short brown hair, he looked very dirty, his hygeine must be atrocious.

" Skye, please come sit down. There are matters we need to discuss. " The old guy said.

I nodded and sat down in between the group of people, still nobody really spoke.

" Now that were all here I can get to the important stuff. Since I am a developer of the game I rigged it so that when I log in I will already own a guild house and all our necessary items. When we spawn in the Town Of Beginnings we will all go to our guild together. Are there any questions so far? "

The chubby one then raised his hand and spoke. " Kain, I'd just like to know what you need me for, my father is an Assassin but I'm not. "

" Chase, I have not only hired Assassins for this. You are a merchant right? Which means you are very important to us. You can create distractions, stock our gear, and help make more money for us. As for you Soren, you're a scout which means you will find us business, information, and locations of victims. "

" Sounds good to me! " The blonde boy said, he must be Soren.

The chubby one, Chase didn't say anything back. Kain then started talking again. " We have no business yet and we wont get any for a while, so when we get settled in I want you all to just train your skills as much as you can. The higher level you are, the better. We will start playing in 2 hours, do what you want untill then. " He then left the room and the rest of us stayed quiet.

" So, what are all of your names..? " I asked politely.

Soren then perked up and looked at me, " I'm Soren! I'm from an assassin organization in France but I haven't killed yet, I'm better at scouting! And we all know who you are, you're the best of the best! " My face turned red, maybe they really were intimidated by me.. They probably didn't like me then. " This is Chase, " He pointed at the chubby guy who gave me an awkward smile. " This is Kou and Gou, " he then pointed to the twins, Gou, the boy, gave me a dirty look and the girl, Kou smiled shyly. " This is Ryan, " He pointed to the tall guy with green eyes, who just stared back at me. " And this is.. "

" None of your concern. " The tall one with black hair interrupted. " None of us like you, so theres no reason for you to know our names. " He said rudely.

" Hey! Speak for yourself dummy, I like her! " Soren then yelled back at the guy.

" Whatever, kid. " He spoke and then walked to the door and dissapeared behind it.

" What a meanie! " Soren then yelled, which echoed through the room .

" It's fine, nobody has to like me.. Were not friends, were co workers. I understand why they dislike me, so don't worry about it Soren. " I spoke softly, and then left the room behind the other guy. I really didn't care that he disliked me but he didn't have to be so rude. I roamed through the hallway for a while, exploring the mansion. It was filled with maids cleaning every inch of the house over and over again, there were also several other butlers I met throughout the house. Although I didn't run into the one from before.

I wandered curiously around the mansion, making friends every corner I turn. I soon found myself in the kitchen, where cooks were rushing to prepare a meal. They ran around the kitchen like ants, scurrying to one side to stir a pot of who knows what, and then running back to the other to chop some vegetables. Some were also pounding meat, and mixing seasonigs, tossing salad, baking a cake. They're were only about 7 of them, and they were all doing atleast 2 things each. I felt a little bad that they had so much work to do, they were so busy they hardly even noticed me. To my left there were hats and aprons hung on a rack, I threw on an apron and placed the hat on my head, I couldn't reach the back of my apron so I left it untied. " You guys look like you could use some help! " They all stopped for a second and just stared, and then went back to cooking. The head-chef then spoke to me while chopping vegetables.

" You are a guest, we are serving you. Guest's must be treated proper in this house, we don't want you leaving unhappy. Therefor you can't help. "

I crossed my arms and gave a childishly angry look. " If I can't help, then I'm not leaving happy. Or maybe I could tell Kain that you're not treating his guest very nicely.. "

He laughed at my method for getting my way, and tied my apron. " Well in that case, your help is greatly appreciated. " He smiled and grabbed my wrist, he proceeded to direct me through the huge kitchen and I found myself by the meats. " Can you cook meat? "

" I can cook anything, meat is easy peasy! " I laughed and started beating the meat with him. It was T-bone steak, and it looked very juicy. After I beat all the meat I tossed them in the bowl of seasoning one by one making sure they all had just the right amount on them. They were then grilled on the stove-top barbeque. The chef then said I could see where else help is needed and that he can handle the meat the rest of the way. I helped one cook finish chopping his onions, which led to my eyes burning and tears pouring down my face. I just laughed along with the cooks as I wiped my eyes. I helped finish off the salad and corn, too. Finally everything was finished.

Just then, the butler walked in through the main doors as I was taking off my hat to place back on the rack. " Skye? What are you doing in here? " He looked confused at me and gave the cooks a dirty look.

" I really wanted to help, but they wouldn't let me. I had to force them into it. " I laughed and his dirty look turned into a warm smile.

" So is dinner ready then? "

" Everything should be done in a few minutes, I'm about to go wash up. " I spun around aimlessly trying to untie my apron like a dog chasing his own tail. The butler laughed at how silly I looked and put his hand on my shoulders to stop me, he then untied the apron for me. " Thank you. " I bowed my head down a little, and smiled. " Oh! I forgot to get your name earlier, would you be so kind to tell me what it is? "

" Oh yes, I am Balthier. How rude of me not to introduce myself earlier.. " He gave me a full boy bow as I hung my apron on the rack.

" I don't mind, we just forgot to give formal introductions, thats all. " I smiled and headed for the door. " We probably wont see eachother again tonight, so I guess this is a hello and goodbye. " I creaked the door open and waited for a reply before darting off.

" Yes, goodluck with your job, Skye. " I then ran out the door to the nearest bathroom where I washed my hands and face, I took my hair out of a pony tail and brushed down the hairs that were sticking out with my fingers. I pulled some pieces of hair to the front of my body, and proceeded to the dining room. I knew where the dining room was because the cooks told me it was right beside the kitchen. I entered through the main doors and everyone was already sitting down. Soren smiled at me and patted at a seat beside him and I pleasantly took my seat there.

" Sorry I'm late, everyone. " I whispered, and awaited with my hands on my lap.

" Don't worry about it! We only got here a couple minutes ago so you weren't very far behind us. " Soren replied, and gave me a cute boyish smile.

" Everywhere you go you just have to be the best, don't you. " I heard an angry voice from the other side of the table, it was the dark haired man. He truly didn't like me, it seemed like he was just here to be a dick.

" What do you mean..? " I asked with a lowered voice.

" I saw you in the kitchen, cooking, making friends, you try too hard to make people like you. " He kept his eyes closed and the look on his face was scoul, his fist clenched on top of the table.

" I.. " That was all I could say, I wasn't sure how to reply to that. Kain gave me a troubled look and then glared at the guy.

" Gabriel, learn some manners. You are all here on a job, part of this job is to get along. " The sound of his voice was intimidating.

" I don't see why you had to pick her, we don't need her. We are FINE without her! " He yelled back at Kain, which resulted in Kains fist pounding at the table. I kept quiet with my head down.

" You idiot, she is the most important person on this job, each and every one of you know for a fact shes the second ranked Assassin in the world. You should be honored to be in her pressance and I expect you to be respectful. She is your mentor. " Gabriel, the dark haired guy, kept quiet. He clearly had no snarky come back this time, and he didn't look happy because of it.

" Please, treat me equally. Were all humans, no need to rank people for this job. Besides, we all start off as level 1 right? So right now nobody is better than the other. " After I said this the kitchen doors flung open and Balthier pushed out the cart of food. He set it all up on the table and everyone helped themselves. The men ate like savage animals, while Kou and I kept our manners and lady-like appearance.

" Girls try too hard to be proper. " Gou laughed as he wolfed down on a corn cob.

" You guys eat disgustingly, you could learn a thing or two from us. " Kou's quiet voice replied.

Thats basically all that was said the entire time, once everyone was finished we all went back into the room from before. A team of doctors and nurses awaited us there. We were each greeted by different people, I was greeted by a blonde woman doctor, and a brunette nurse with glasses.

" Oh my you are adorable! " The doctor proclaimed, and the nurse nodded. " We are going to be watching over you while you're in the game, we wont let any harm come to your body! " She smiled and I shook both their hands.

" Thanks! I trust that you will. " I smiled and they directed to me to the bed at the far end. I layed down with my arms at my side, it was more comfy than I had imagined.

" On the count of three you must start the link, alright? " The doctor said, as she positioned the NerveGear helmet on my head, I gave a thumbs up. Everyone else was doing the same, we were all going in at the same time then. " Now there is no need to customize your characters look because you will just end up looking like the real you anyways alright? " I nodded, and she walked away from my bed. The doctors started counting down from 10, I was a bit nervous, but also excited.

" 3.. 2... 1.. Start it up! " And then all together we yelled " Link Start" A burst of white flashed before my eyes, and then a series of colours spiraled towards me. Not long after I was brought to the character customization screen, I was standing in it, actually. My body was nothing but an empty doll at the time, the " Skip " button floated in front of my face, I placed my hand on it and my avatar was randomized. A pop up then appeared in front of my face, above it read " Please choose a username " and there was a box to type in and a keyboard below. I decided to just use my name, Skye, and then clicked finish.

I dissolved away and then re appeared in the " Town Of Beginnings " where people were panicking and scurrying around like idiots. I opened up my items menu and pulled out my mirror which made my avatar look like my real self, and then I looked around for the others. First I found Soren and then Kou, we stuck together and then found Kain, Chase, Gabriel and Ryan together.

" Alright guys, lets go to our guild now. " All together we walked calmly through the chaos, as we walked I briefly searched around for my brother, but didn't see him anywhere. This was the start of something new for the both of us..


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

We didn't arrive at our guild for quite a while, it was late when we finally got there. It was probably the most awkward walk I have ever taken, nobody said a word to anybody. We all just walked in an hour of silence, things lightened up a little when we arrived at the guild. It was in the middle of the forest, it was probably secluded so we would be hard to track down or something. When Kain unlocked it and we all poured in, gasps and pleasant sounds came from all our mouths. It was huge, and beautiful in a medieval sense. Directly in front of us, which was the main hall was a large round table. Against the wall directly accross from us were two doors, on the left and right side, and in the middle was a staircase leading to an underground floor. On each side of the wall there was a staircase leadings upstairs, and at the top was a bit of an indoor balcony, and behind it were 4 doors. On the left and right of the first floor there was another door.

" Each of you will have a roomate except for Gabriel. " Kain explained, " Skye and Kou, your room is on the very right on the second floor. " He pointed to the last door on the right, both nodded our heads and waited for him to finish speaking. " Gou and Soren will be in the room beside it, Chase and Ryan will be beside that room, and Gabriel will have the farthest room to the left. " We all stared at the doors to our rooms, as if we were about to have a race and we were waiting for Kain to shout " GO! "

" Were will you be staying, Kain? " I asked

" I will sleep downstairs. " He pointed to the stairs in the middle of the room, and I nodded. " The room to the right, beside the downstairs staircase is the kitchen. The door on the opposite side is the library. The library is quite useful, please use it whenever you have time. The room to the left of the house will be assignment room. There will be bulleton boards and file cabinets and envelopes for each of you in this room. When Soren gathers enough information on a victim, I will place the mission information on the bulleton board of whom I think is most fit for the job, understood? " We all nodded our heads again. And finally, the room on the left of the house is a training room. There are lots of equipment very useful for lots of different training in here. " He paused for a moment. " Now before I send you to your rooms allow me to explain a little about the gameplay. If you haven't already noticed, on the top left corner of your vision you can see a display of your username and you're HP Gauge. Keep a close eye on your HP, if it gets low use a potion. Also, when you are in a conversation, party, battle, or come in contact in any other way with another player, their display information will appear beneath yours. This can be very useful sometimes, so make sure you pay attention to that too. Now, please go to your rooms and get settle, when you are finished come back and sit at this round table so I can go over more important information. " He dismissed us and we all rushed to our bedrooms. Kou made it in before me, but I didn't really mind.

The room was very semetrical. It was rectangular. In front of me there were two beds, side by side. They were only apart by about a foot, on both sides of the bed there were desks. It was a simple and dull room, but I'm sure I wasn't obligated to keep it that way. Kou stayed quiet, she layed down on the bed to the left, so I sat on the other bed. I opened up my menu the same way Kain did, by swaying my finger downwards. I explored all the options and other tools in the menu, to waste time. Then, before too long I headed downstairs. I didn't say anything to Kou, I felt like she would be too shy to respond anyways. I was the first to arrive at the table, so I sat down and folded my hands on the table and waited patiently.

" Once again you're trying to better than everyone else, " A voice came from nowhere, I was a bit startled but I didn't flinch. The voice was familiar, it was that stupid Gabriel guy again. I don't know what his problem was, really.

" I'm not trying to be better than anyone, " I replied with a rude tone of voice.

Gabriel revealed himself from the shadows and pulled out a seat across from me. He sat down and looked away from me with a grim look on his face. " It sure doesn't seem like it, you can't be the best without trying you know. " He growled.

" I had a good mentor, you seem like you want to be the best. So why don't you just surpass me if you want it that bad? It's not that hard if you really try. " I said back, with a smartass look.

" I've been trying to, for years. " His voice got angrier, my head pricked up.

" Huh? " I turned to look at him

" Who do you think is ranked thrid? I've been under you for years, and have been trying to pass you. " He admitted,

So thats why he disliked me so much, we are basically enemies. All assassins are ranked differently, the weaklings look up to the top 25, and they help out the lower ranks. But the top 25 ranked are all enemies, they're all fighting for a higher position and to surpass one another. So naturally, Gabriel wouldn't like me. I didn't reply this time, we just sat in silence for a few minutes untill the others started scrambling out of there rooms and sitting at the table with us. Kain came in last and set down a box on the table. The box was locked, and he took out a key from his front pocket. He unlocked the box and opened it. Inside was a sinlge black cube, it looked like it was some sort of power source, and electricity flowed through it. We all looked in shock, nobody knew what it was or what it was for.

" Let me explain what were going to do next, I'm going to give you all a few advantages. " Kain started, " This here is a computer terminal accessable in this world. It's what you need in order to hack the game. " My eyes widened, man are we lucky to have our hands on this. We can alter whatever we want! " I am the only person in this guild who will hold the key, none of you may use this. Based on your usual skills and personalities I have created some new skills for each of you to have access to learn. None will be the same. Starting with Gabriel, " Gabriel turned to Kain and looked into his eyes, waiting for him to proceed. " I have created the Tracking Skill, it will be used to track down players by identifying footprints, fingerprints, smells, and all other ways. You also get invisibility, it has no limits and can be used as long as you like without breaks, but it may cause bad migranes so use it cautiously. " He opened up his menu and scrolled through the skills, he spotted the " Tracking skill " and bowed his head.

" Chase, since you are only a merchant, you get a bartering skill. Depending on your skill level, you can raise and lower prices to your hearts consent and players or npcs can't decline to a certain point. Gou, you and your sister will have an unlimited telepathic connection with one another, you will also have a phantom tiger compaion. Kou, you will have a phantom wolf companion, they will only be visible to you, creatures and the other guild members. But other players will not see them, they will be very useful. Ryan, you get a duel wield skill, and the ability to silence a player, they will become mute untill you unmute them. Soren, you will get a stalking skill, and the ability to read minds. It's pretty straightforward, and Skye. You will get a beastmaster and summoning skill. Train animals to fight for you, or stay by your side. And capture their souls to be able to summon them in battle. " We all stayed silent, we were all quite content with our new advantages. " Each of you also get an extra set of skills, Pickpocketing, Stealing, Sneaking, and Impersonating. Impersonating will be used to pretend to be someone else, or disguise yourself. Now that it's all worked out, return to your rooms and rest for the night. There are guild uniforms and equipment placed on your beds, make sure you're wearing it first thing in the morning. " Kain then dismissed us again and we returned to our bedrooms.

I plopped down on my bed, and rolled over on my left side facing my desk. I kicked the uniform and equipment off my bed and left it on the floor, I was too tired to put it away in my inventory. I heard Kou come in behind me, she put her stuff away and sighed. I rolled over to the other side, no facing Kou. " Do you not like me either? " I asked her. She sat up and stared at me, her eyes were wide and they glistened under the moonlight shining through. She stayed quiet for a moment, and then smiled.

" No way! " She giggled and scratched her head, " I've always been too shy to talk to new people, please excuse me for being misleading. " She was pretty adorable, she must be atleast 2 years younger than me.

" Well I'm glad then, " I smiled back, and closed my eyes. I could hear Kou shuffling around in her bed trying to get comfortable, I turned over again and burried my head into my pillow. Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.

The next morning I woke up before Kou, the sun was shining bright through the window but she managed to ignore it. I put on all the guilds gear and equipment before heading downstairs. It was a thight leather turtle-neck vest, with some gold markings on it, and tight back shorts. Along with high combat boots, they reached almost up to the bottom of my shorts. There were also gold markins on the boots, and a gold belt with lots of pouches and straps. In the straps I put a jagged dagger, and a steel longsword. On the other side I put my potions in the pouches. There were also black gaunlets, and fingerless gloves. The left gaunlet had a small gold retractable shield on it. On top of everything there was a hooded cape. It covered nearly my whole body, only my feet were showing and I put my hood on which covered half of my face. I didn't like the gold all that much, but the outfit wasn't bad. I quietly left the room without waking Kou, and went downstairs.

I felt my stomach growling and held my hands over it. _Thats right.. I will still feel hungry in this world as I do normally.. _I looked around, and remembered which door lead to the kitchen. I let myself inside and was shocked at what I found. The kitchen was already occupied..

" Oh goodmorning Skye! " Balthier smiled. _What the hell.. _I thought, when did he get here? I didn't know he was coming too. " I can tell you're a bit shocked to see me! " He chuckled, and proceeded to talk. " Allow me to explain, I was origionally supposed to come at the same time as you but I got held up training my replacement while I was away. So I just showed up a little late! " He waved his hand at me as a gesture to settle down.

" Well that's quite the surprise, I'm glad to have you along though. " I smiled, and looked down at what he was doing. It looked like he was cooking, but he was basically just standing there. I guess cooking is gonna be a little different in a game.

" Breakfast will be ready soon, could you possibly give me a hand? " He asked politely, he sort of has a creepy but friendly look to him.

" Uh, sure! " I nodded, and walked deeper into the kitchen. " How can I help? "

" Could you go wake the others? If they sleep in, Kain wont be very happy. " He asked,

I slouched down. _Damnit.. _Thats the worst possible thing he could ask me to do, they all hated me enough already. I can't wait for them to see that I'm not waking them from their peaceful slumber.. I made my way out of the kitchen, and headed back upstairs. I started with Kou, because then I thought I could ask her to help me with the others. It took me a while to get her up though, I started by whispering her name, and then gently shaking her. But that didn't work, then I started making a lot of noise around the room, which didn't work either. Finally I started calling her name a little louder, and her eyes squinted open. " I-I'm sorry to wake you, " I hesitated " But I was told it's time for everyone to get up. "

She sat up and yawned, she stretched her arms out on either side and tilted her body back and forth. " That's alright Skye, I don't like sleeping in anyways so it was nice of you to wake me first. " She talked slowly and her voice was muffled, she rubbed her eyes and looked out the window. " It's so beautiful.. " I nodded. " Would you like some help waking the others? " She then asked.

" That would be great! " I replied, and smiled. I left the room so she could get dressed and proceded to Chance and Ryans room. I knocked on the door, quietly at first and then got louder. I wasn't going in no matter what, it was a guys room. And who knows if they slept with their clothes on or not. After no response I knocked even louder, and then started banging on the door.

" WHAT!? " Chase screamed from inside, he sounded pissed off.

" I'm sorry! " I yelled back, " I was told to wake everyone up! " There was silence for a moment, and then he spoke again.

" Oh, okay we'll be right down. "

I started heading downstairs and then I remembered I hadn't woken up Gabriel. I really didn't want to, but I guess it had to be done. I went to knock on the door, but before I could it flew open on its own. I stumbled forward upon missing and lost my balance. Only to be caught, my eyes widened and my head shot up. Looking down at me was Gabriel, his hands gripped me tight. I was in his arms.. I flung my body backwards and panicked. " I- I'm sorry! I was told to wake you, I didn't know you were already up! I'm sorry, please forgive me! " I bowed to him and ran downstairs.

" Idiot.. " I heard him mumble from behind me. I felt my face, it was burning hot. Probably red from embarrassment.

" Baka.. Baka.. " I whispered to myself and pounded my fist into my forehead. " How embarrassing.. " I sat down at the table, where Kou and the others had already gathered. " Good morning everyone " I cheerfully said, and my face cooled.

" Morning Skye! " Soren waved at me from across the table. I smiled at him and looked around, everyone looked dead except for Soren. I guess they aren't all morning people, I put my elbow on the table and rested my face on my fist. Nobody said anything, it was really awkward. I can't stand sitting in awkward situations, we were all doing absolutely nothing and yet no one was communicating.

Balthier then stormed out of the kitchen, babbling on about breakfast. " I'm terribly sorry, but it's going to take a little longer for breakfast.. " Everyone groaned. " It seems my cooking skill is still quite low, so most of it turned out burnt. Please just be patient! " He bowed and then headed back into the kitchen. I rolled my eyes, _Great now they're going to dislike me more for waking them early.. _The silence was irritating, I had enough. I pounded both hands on the table and pushed my chair out dramtically and went into the library. I went into the " Skill Training " section, and pulled out a book on agility. I read the first couple of pages, and headed back into the main hall to read it at the table. Nobody had moved or started talking, I rudely sat back down and thumped my book on the table. _If they won't be nice, I wont be nice either. _I opened it up again, and kept my eyes pealed on the book. I could feel them looking at me from time to time, but I ignored their glares. Eventually Gabriel came downstairs and went straight into the library, and came out a few minutes later with a book. He sat down a couple seats away from me and started reading. _Copycat_. My eyes wandered to him, and I tilted me head up to look at the book he was reading. His eyes shot up to me and he just glared at me, I scrambled back down to my book and kept my eyes to myself for the rest of the time. Finally Balthier came out from the kitchen with lots of food in hand. Breakfast was finally ready.

After breakfast, Kain instructed everyone to go out to train and explore. Soren, Ryan, and Chase all went off together, Kou and Gou also went elsewhere together. Gabriel ventured into the forest on his own, so I had no choice but to train by myself. I decided to train by the guild for a little while, and then head into town at around noon. For a few hours I trained my strength and agility, they weren't very hard to level up. When noon rolled around I started making my way into town, I explored every building, alley, and every other place to see. There were lots of people here also, most of them looked really unhappy. I forgot that they weren't here willingly, they didn't even know they were going to be trapped here. I saw the look of despair on all their faces, assassins normally don't care about other peoples pain, we only care about ourselve's and our family. But I couldn't help but feel bad, my dad always said I have too big of a heart for an assassin. I try to be too friendly, and helpful. But that can't be a bad thing. While exploring I came accross a community garden, it was a square figure with a four-way path straight in the middle. In the middle of the path was a large cherryblossom tree. And surrounding the path's was a square patch of flowers with a gate surrounding it. Butterflies, bees, hummingbirds, ladybugs and all kinds of beautiful animals surrounded it. It was so beautfiul, I couldn't help but smile. I walked to the middle, and sat down in front of the cherryblossom tree and leaned against it. I pulled out the same book I had started this morning, and continued reading from where I left off. I read untill the book was finished, which took hours. It was a fairly large book, by the time I was finished the sun had already begun setting. I held my hand over my eyes to shelter it from blindness, and watched the sun as it disappeared behind the mountains in the distance.

I closed my book and got to my feet, the town was now lit with lanterns all around. I opened the menu to check the time, it was 7 O clock. _I guess I should head back. _I started heading back to the guild, and ate on the way. I reached the path that lead through the forest and too the guild. I wiped my forehead, and gripped my sword. My brother told me that at night time the monsters were more powerful and often stayed in packs. So it may be a little bit of a challenge heading back. I started walking, slowly and quietly. I thought for a moment and opened up my menu, I opened up the Skill Menu and searched for the Agility skill. Level 13, it makes sense. I trained for 3 hours, and I also read that book on Agility. I closed the menu and started sprinting down the path, If my agility is this high, I can already run faster and swifter than most.

I stopped myself to see what was blocking my path, a pack of monsters were directly in front of me. Their mouths hung open,and drool seaped through their fangs. They all growled and moaned, and snapped their jaws at me. The first one lunged at me and I quickly pulled out my sword and lunged myself toward it, before clashing I sliced my sword directly through it's body and it vanished into thin air. The other monsters became restless at the sight, and they all started running toward me, there must have been atleast seven of them. Four of them positioned themselves in front of me, while the other three got behind me. I was closed in, and completely vulnerable from behind. I caught one jumping at me from behind from the corner of my eye, I swung my sword around slicing off its head before it had the chance to reach me. Then, two came at me at the same time, one from each side. I ducked down and shot my sword straight up, it penetrated into the body of one but remained alive. The other one clashed into it and knocked to the ground. The creature was strapped onto my sword by its body, it squirmed and squeeled helplessly but his friends all stood there and watched. It's hp dropped slowly untill it reached zero and the creature dissinigrated. I then stabbed my sword into the other one which was still knocked on the ground.

Suddenly I couldn't catch my breath, I fell to the ground on my knees and struggled for air. My stamina must have dropped too much, I placed my hand on the ground to hold myself up and wrapped my other hand around my neck. " Shit! " I shouted as I gasped for another breath. The creatures noticed their advantage and all jumped in to attack me at once, they bit, scratched, and shoved me and then returned to their postition. I could see my HP dropping, four of them attacked me at once and it dropped down half way. One more attack, and I'm gone. I still couldn't breathe, I couldn't do anything. I shut my eyes. " Alright. " I whispered, and waited for them to finish me off.

I felt something grab my arm, and start pulling me up. I opened my eyes and got to my feet, still unable to breathe. The creatures were gone, and someone was in front of me. I looked up, to see who it was. " Gabriel!? " I shouted, and stepped backwards. _Why does he always have to show up at the wrong times!? _

" Why didn't you use a potion? " He asked, with an angry tone of voice. My head perked up, I had totally forgotten I even had those. I looked down at the ground. " Idiot.. "

" I didn't need your help. " I growled,

" No, you didn't. Not at first atleast, but if I hadn't stepped in you would have died. "

" You mean you were watching me!? " He tilted his head away from me, and didn't at a word. I sighed, " Thank you.. " I said, and started walking away. Naturally, he trailed along behind me since we had the same destination. _Baka.. Baka! How could I have forgotten about my potions!? _I walked with my head down the rest of the way, I felt so stupid. When we arrived back at the guild everyone was already at the table waiting.

" You're right on time! " Soren cheered as soon as I walked in.

Kou looked directly at me, and then to Gabriel. " Were you two training together? " She had an intimidating look in her eyes, and I shook my head and waves my hands in front of me.

" No no! " I exclaimed, " We met up along the way back and just ended up walking together.. Sort of.. " I mumbled the last bit.

" Did you run into any trouble on the way back..? " Kain asked,

" Well, actually.. " I rubbed my head and prepared myself to explain to everyone what happened.

" No, we handled ourselves well. " Gabriel interrupted, and looked at me. The expression on his face showed that he was serious, and wanted me to keep quiet.

We both sat down with the others, and Balthier presented dinner. We all ate our meal and went to our rooms, before going to my bedroom I went back into the library to get a new book. This time I found a book on "Beast Master". That was one of my new skills, so I took that and headed to the bedroom. Kou was already asleep when I got there, I didn't want to wake her so I headed back downstairs to the table. It was empty, thank goodness, it would be awkward if someone was there. I started reading, and became intrigued with all the information. It wasn't a very long book, so I finished it pretty quickly. After I put the book back I left the library and headed for the stairs. As I walked past the kitchen, Balthier came out.

" Oh Skye, you haven't gone to sleep yet? " He asked

I shook my head, " No, I was reading. "

" Well I'm glad you're studying skills, it's an easy ways to learn and level up. " He smiled.

" Yeah, I've realized. Uhm, why are you still awake? " I asked.

" I was cleaning up the kitchen. " He answered without hesitation.

" Oh. " I smiled " If you ever need help when I'm around, don't be shy about asking me okay? "

" Thank you, Skye. " He bowed and wished me goodnight.

I then headed to bed, and passed out almost straight away.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

A week has gone by, all we have been doing is training. I have been going out from time to time, but it's no fun alone. Soren hasn't brought in any work, so we don't even have anyone to kill. I was bored of this game already. I let out a sigh and slouched down in my desk chair, I checked the time and smacked my head down on the desk. I groaned. _I'm bored of training and reading, when am I gonna get to atleast kill someone? _I slid my chair out from underneath my desk and walked out. I stumbled through the house and out the door, and started heading away from the forest and out into the Town of Beginnings. I wasn't sure if going there was going to be any less boring, but it sure beats staring at a wall. _I don't even have any friends. _Things would be different if anyone in the guild liked me, but they didn't. Soren was very friendly towards me, but he seemed to have grown on Chase, they seem to be friends now. I'm quite fond of Kou but, naturally she spends all her time with her twin brother. Ryan doesn't speak, so I don't know what the hell hes thinking. And Gabriel keeps to himself. Balthier and I chat quite a bit, but he always seems to be busy. I was a loner. I never did have a friend, so I can't complain now. But I always had my older brother, Shaun. We always kept eachother company, since he didn't have many friends either.

As I walked I stopped to veiw the sun come up, it was quite early, but i've always been an early riser. I walked to the edge of the " earth ", although it was a virtual world I still called it earth. At the edges, there were no railings or invisible walls, you could fall off at any moment which would probably bring immediate death. I sat down on the ledge, and watched as morning broke through. I enjoyed things like this, the beauty of the world. Or should I say the fake world. Afterwards, I continued to head back into the town. It didn't take long, the guild was located just outside the walls that surrounded the city. I walked past all the buildings and markets, and right before I came to an inn, my stomach began to growl. I didn't wait for breakfast this morning, meals were always awkward so I avoiding eating with everyone else. I went inside the Inn and bought myself something to eat, most of the tables were empty so I sat down at the one in the direct middle. I ate my food slowly, and waited around at the table for a while. I had this creepy habit, that I probably wouldn't tell anyone. But I enjoyed listening to other peoples conversations, and watching them. The inn seems to be the best place to do it, because when everyone wakes up the place is packed with people, sharing unlimited stories with one another. I had never had friends or family to share my stories with, and mess around with, and just laugh with. I enjoyed watching everyone else feel that warmth, it brought me joy and made me feel like I was part of it.

I watched two young girls at a table across from me for a while. They talked mostly of boys, who the cutest boy was and who the strongest was. They compared each one to another, and giggled everytime a guy walked past their table. Men have never really been an interest of mine, I've never had friends so obviously I've never had a boyfriend. I haven't even had my first kiss! My life revolves around my work, maybe one day that will change but not for a while. Don't get me wrong though, I don't mind it. It's really fun, and I'm filthy rich so I can't complain. I just wish I could have tried living like a normal person.

* Bump * " Oof! "

My thoughts were interupted, by someone pushing into my back. I peeled my eyes behind me to see who it was, but I was wearing my hood so I had to turn my head. I stood up and turned around, the person was a head shorter than me so they were probably pretty young. He had curly green hair, and bright green eyes.

" I-I'm so sorry!" He squirmed and waved his hands in front of him, and then focused his eyes back at a group of men standing in front of us.

" Now look what you did! You're disturbing everyone else, you're good for nothing! " One of the men shouted, and gripped the boys shoulders. He was a large man and wore heavy looking armor, it probably made him look bigger than he really was. He had long wavy hair and brown eyes, and his face was unshaved. The two men behind him had evil grins on their faces. " I'm sorry about him ma'am! " His tone of voice was rude, and unapealing. " Please excuse us, " He forced the boy out of the inn and his friends followed. Something about them didn't seem right, to most people they probably looked like a couple of brothers who just didn't get along. But I don't think that was the case, I decided to follow them.

They walked out of town with a fast pace, and they constantly looked around before turning corners. Clearly they were doing something that they didn't want anyone to see. I followed them all the way to a deep forest, it was hard to follow them in the open but I managed. They walked through the forest a lot less sketchy, but I noticed they didn't let go of the boy the entire time. The boy obviously wasn't going with them willingly, but he didn't try to fight or get away. When they finally stopped, I got closer. I was keeping my distance the entire time but I couldn't see or hear them from where I was. I crept through the tall grass, and shadowed myself behind the trees. I came close enough that I could almost reach out and touch one of them, but their backs were turned away from me.

The big guy, (who was probably the leader) threw the boy into a tree and chuckled. " I told you, have 20,000 Col for me by this morning or you and your friend gets it! " The boy kept his head down, he didn't say anything. He didn't look strong, so how could he expect him to get 20,000 Col? You couldn't make half that in a week if you're below level 10. " Go get him. " The man said to one of the others guys, and he nodded his head and disappeared into the trees. A few minutes later he came out carrying a blode girl, with short curly hair. She was tied up from chest to toe, and she had a rope tied through her mouth to keep her from talking. The guy threw her hard on the ground, next to the boy. The boys facial expression showed that he clearly knew her. The man smiled, and pulled out a dagger. He chuckled to himself as he ran the dagger along the girls neck and watched the boys horrible facial expression. _Why doesn't he do anything!? _I thought, but realized that the boy was obviously weak. If he tried something he would probably just make the situation worse. " Which one of you should I kill first? " He sneered, and watched the boy again.

" How about you don't kill either of them. " I stepped in, I am a cold blooded killer. But I am 100% against mindless killing, I kill who I am paid to kill. I don't kill for fun and nobody should.

" Aww, look. A sweet young girl came to save the day. " He mocked, and I could sense the other two guys coming up behind me. They each grabbed one of my arms and tried pushing me forward towards their leader. I smiled, " You underestimate me. " I did a small backflip, which broke me free of their grip, and elbowed them each in the face. While they were knocked back, I pulled out my dagger ( Which I just so happened to soak in a paralysis potion the following night) and cut each of them. They instantly stopped moving, everything but their eyeballs. They looked around at eachother and me, they were clearly shocked. " Hmph! " The leader made an angry face, and swung his dagger into the boys throat. I threw my dagger through his arm, which dropped on the floor and dissinigrated. The dagger poisoned him too, so he couldn't even scream over the loss of his arm. The boy and girl stared in shock, without saying a word.

" Untie your friend. " I ordered the boy, and he quickly fell to the ground and began untying the girl. They both stood up together, still speechless. " Loot their bodies. "

" W-what? " The boy asked, his voice trembled.

" They can't move, loot them. Take their valuables. " Their terrified faces turned into expressions of relief, and they quickly raided each of the mens inventories of all their gold, valuable equipment and items. The girl then came up to me, she was a little shorter than the boy.

" Thank you! " She bowed, and smiled. She then gripped my cloak, and looked up into my eyes. " If it's not too much trouble.. Could you walk with us back to town. "

I nodded and started walking out of the forest with the two, who looked quite happy. " Why were those guys after you? "

" I don't know.. They saw us training, and out of nowhere they took Aria and ran, and the big guy told me to get him 20,000 col in two days or else.. " The boy answered, and looked at the girl, Aria.

" I see, what level are you both? "

" I'm level 5, and Nathan is level 6. " Aria responded.

" They chose you because you were weak, they're cowards. " Their faces grew sad when I said that, I guess I did insult them. " But you were brave.. " I added, trying to cheer them faces were lit up again, it was so easy to keep kids happy. 

" Could you.. Maybe, party up with us sometime? And help us train..? " He asked hesitantly, and they both looked up at me with big smiles.

I let out a sigh, " Sure, why not. " I smiled back, our walk back to town was interupted by an incoming voice call. It was from Kain, I stopped and accepted it. " Isn't something wrong? " I started

" Ahh Skye, glad to see you are alright. " He paused, " Where have you been all day? "

" Training. " I answered quickly, and put my finger over my mouth and let out a quiet " Shh" to Aria and Nathan.

" Glad to see you doing your best! Listen, if you see Gabriel at all could you report back? "

" Uhh, yeah. Is something wrong? "

" No no, nothing is wrong. I haven't heard from him all day either, so I just wanted to be sure everything is okay. He didn't answer my voice call a while ago. "

" I'll let you know. "

" Alright, safe travels! " He ended the call after that. I hated how he tried to act so sweet, I could see right through it. He even gave me bad vibes, and why would he " check in " on me?

" Sorry about that. " I said to the kids, and continued walking.

" Was that your guild? " Nathan asked

" Yeah. "

" Wow thats so cool! You're already in a guild! " Aria added,

" The guild was formed before we started playing. "

" So a guild made up of close friends? Awesome! " Nathan smiled

" Yeah, something like that. " Aria and Nathan talked their heads off the whole way back, kids always had so many questions and so much to say. Once we reached the town, before parting ways I gave them jewelery I pillaged from a monster once. I had no need for it, they thanked me and we said our goodbyes.

When I arrived back at the guild, Kain and Ryan were both sitting at the table. They glared at me without saying a word as I headed to my room. _That was weird.. _I shook it off, and headed to bed.

This morning I woke up late for once, and I actually layed in my bed staring at the cieling for a while. I had a bad gut feeling when I awoke, as if my body was telling me " Stay in bed, please. " I hate those feelings, whenever I get them something bad really does happen. I out a sigh, and finally jumped out of bed. I headed to the kitchen first thing in the morning to grab something to eat, after eating I was heading out the door and Kain stopped me.

" Skye! Wait, could you come see me in the office for a bit? " I chewed the bite of my apple that lingered in my mouth, and nodded my head. I shut the door and headed into the office where Kain waited at the desk. In front of him was the same jewelery I gave to Aria and Nathan, along with an assortment of other items. My mind started to wonder, _This stuff doesn't belong to them does it? No, it's just a coincidence.. I got it from a monster drop, so anyone else could get the same item easily.. _" It seems I forgot to set a very important rule.. " Kain sneered, I didn't say anything. I wasn't too sure what he even meant. " I hesitated to tell you and now we have a little mess. " His voice was horrifying, it disgusted me. He can be so sweet at times, and then seeing this side of him is sickening. " You may not interact with people outside of the guild. If you do, they will die. Just like your two little friends. " At the very moment he said this I could feel tears rushing to my eyes, I fought them back as hard as I could. I didn't want Kain to see me cry, I was an assassin, showing weakness isn't allowed.

" They were children.. " I murmered, still holding back tears.

" Yes, it's quite sad isn't it? Two children lost their lives because of you. " He snickered, he found this funny. It gave him pleasure. I clenched my fist, I was seconds away from killing him, but I couldn't. I fell to my knees, my had was down to the floor and my hood covered my face. The tears fought back, and they finally broke through.

" I'm sorry, sir. It wont happen again.. " I whispered

" You may have all their belongings. " He added, and I took the items and left. I spotted Gabriel leaning against the wall next to the door outside of the office as I left, he gave me a troubled look but didn't speak. My face was still covered, but my tears fell to the ground like raindrops. I left the guild, and headed into the forest. I dug a large hole in the ground, and placed all their items and gold in the hole.

Before burying the hole again, I knelt down on one knee and bowed to the grave. " Forgive me.. " I whispered, " Please, forgive me.. Nathan and Aria, rest in peace. " I got back up and buried the hole, untill it was no longer visible. I sat down on my knees in front of the " grave " afterwards. It wasn't much of a grave, their bodies disinigrated when they died in this world. But it was all I could do. I didn't leave untill it got dark, when I returned to the guild I didn't eat. I went straight to bed, Ryan grinned as I passed him, he thought I didn't notice. I layed in bed for hours that night trying to sleep, but I couldn't. My mind was wandering all over the place, and I was so upset over what happened. When I woke up the next morning, I couldn't even remember falling asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

After yesterdays events, the guild grew more silent and hostile. Even Soren didn't great me this morning, and everyone passed me rude glares. _This is messed up. Am I not allowed to be upset over the death of chidren? _Even the most dedicated assassin shouldn't kill a child, there are no good reasons behind such a horrid act. I ignored the looks, and headed to Kains office. I hadn't got an assignment yet, and I was getting fed up. I stormed into the room angrily and sat down in front of Kans desk. He looked up at me, and before speaking he sipped his tea.

" Skye, just the gal I wanted to see. " I smirked, and I kept my face emotionless. I was going to be anything but friendly towards the guy from now on. All I had left for him was hatred, hes lucky hes not dead. " I assume you're here to demand an assignment? " _How the hell does this guy know just about everything!? _I nodded, " Well you came at the right time! I do indeed have a job for you! " He slid some papers across the desk, there were 4 papers in total and they were all filled with information. " This guy has been getting suspicious of our guild, we need him dead. " I nodded once again, and started to pick myself off the chair. " Oh, and Skye. Since there is no blood in this little game, you must sign the death certificate with ink. Although, the consiquences of faking their death STILL applies. " Finally, I took my leave.

In every proper assassin organization, you must sign a death certificate for each person you kill. The death certificate is to give to your headmaster, who then tests it. The point of the death certificate is to prove that you killed that person, it must be signed with your full name, in your victims blood. Each certificate undergo's a blood test, and if the blood belongs to the assassin he is killed on the spot, although there are some headmasters kind enough to give them other punishments. But in SAO, there is no blood. When somebody dies they vanish, so it can only be signed in ink. Therefor there is no real proof whether or not the victim is dead or not.

I headed to the nearest town, being away from the guild makes me feel calmer. I'm starting to really regret taking this assignment, but I can't turn back now. I'm stuck here untill the game is over.. I read the information given to me by Kain at the bar, he was a young man who goes by the username of Deathclaw. What a silly name.. I read the address of the inn he stays in, which just so happened to be in the town I was in at the moment. I decided to kill him in his sleep, sleep Pking wasn't very popular. And hardly anyone knows about it, but if you challenge someone to a duel during their sleep you can accept it with their very finger, thus you can attack untill their HP reaches zero. I waited in my inn untill the evening, and then walked to the inn where DeathClaw would be staying. Sure enough, he was at a table getting drunk with his friends. They laughed, and told jokes and funny stories for hours. Finally they all parted ways, and Deathclaw headed upstairs, I followed him in the shadows to watch which room he went into and then sat down at a table again. I waited for 2 hours, I wanted to be sure he was asleep. The bartender NPC said " I'm closing up the bar now " and he disappeared. I then headed upstairs and into the room the guy was sleeping in, I pressed my ear to the door for a moment and heard nothing. So I took my chances and picklocked it open, sure enough he was sound asleep. I went close to him, and sat down in front of is bed. _This will be my first kill in about a month.. _I looked at him, he looked almost exaclty like Sean. If I didn't know any better, I would have assumed it was Sean. I opened up my menu, and proposed a duel against him. The duel screen then appeared in front of his face, and I took his finger and pressed accept. A countdown started, and when it hit zero I pierced my sword into his neck. If this was real life, it would have been a messy kill. But there was no blood, I watched as half his HP sank down and hit him again. His HP rapidly went down again, leaving only a little bit to finish off. Before hitting him again, his eyes opened and he looked at me for a second. I didn't move, I was caught.

" Skye..? " I slit his throat again with my sword and he vanished. _He knew my name.. _How did he know my name? I had never seen him before, and my username isn't my real name.. So how did he know.. I signed his death certificate, and headed back to the guild. I went straight to bed and slept, I decided I would rather talk to Kain tomorrow.

I woke up late in the afternoon the next day, and the guild was empty. Even Balthier was nowhere to be found, I went to Kains office to drop off the death certificate, but I heard voices coming from inside. It was Ryan, and Kain. I pressed my ear to the door to listen, " You swear that she doesn't suspect anything? " Kains voice echoed

" Yes sir, she is completely oblivious. " Ryan replied

" And her brother? "

" Dead, sir. I watched her kill him with her own hands last night. " Ryan sneered, and I stepped back.

_That's why he knew my name.. _I put my hand over my mouth, tears began to fall. I fell to my knees, _I killed my own brother.. _

" What was that? " I heard Ryan from the other side of the door, I ran outside before her opened the door. Gabriel was standing outside, he glared at me as I stormed out the door. He looked into my eyes, he thought I was pathetic. I am pathetic, I'm showing weakness in front of another assassin. Niether of us spoke a word, I only sobbed. He started reaching his hand out to me, and I ran. I can't let anyone touch me, I can't speak. If I interact with someone I'm going to burst. I ran through the forest and out to the open, I looked down to the grass which rustled in the wind. Tears poured out more and more. _How could I be so stupid.. _I pounded my fist against my forehead, _How could I let this happen.. _I sat for hours, I was thinking of a plan. I needed to escape, and I needed to hide untill I'm free from this game. I decided I would leave in the night, that way nobody will be able to follow me, or even see me leave.. After wiping my tears I returned to the guild, I sat down for dinner with everyone that night and acted happy as can be. Gabriel gave me a troubled look,

but I shook it off. After going to bed, I waited a couple of hours to be sure that Kou was asleep, I tiptoed over to the door and turned the knob.

_What the hell..? _The door was locked, I tried picking it with my Lockpicking skill, but it was no use. I then saw a someones shadow, and heard footsteps from the other side of the door.

" Is she asleep? " I heard Kains voice,

" There is only one way to be sure. " Ryan replied.

" Very well, open the door Balthier. "

I then heard the door knob rustling, and I jumped back into my bed and went into a sleeping position. I closed my eyes, and listened to the door creak open. Various footsteps marched in, and I heard talking again. " Are you sure you want to kill her now? " Gabriels voice whispered.

" Yes, shes becoming too much of a nuisence already. Just do it before she wakes up. " Kain replied.

" She isn't asleep. " I heard Kou's voice from behind me, and my eyes opened wide. " See. " She pointed at me.

Kain made an angry face, and shouted " KILL HER! " I jumped out of bed to the opposite side of them, I looked around the room. Kou was behind me, Kain and Ryan in front of me, Gabriel was close beside me and Balthier was standing in the doorway. _No escape.. _I then heard doors opening and shutting in the hallway.

" What was that? " One of the other boys outside yelled. I then thought of a good distraction.

" Yes! Kill Balthier! " I shouted, and Balthier turned to look behind him, I sprinted past Gabriel and the others and shoved through Balthier. Soren and Chase were standing in the hallway with surprised looks on their waces. I jumped over the balcony and onto the dining table, I headed for the door and opened it. Gou shoved me back from outside.

" There are six of us, and one of you Skye. Do you really think you were going to escape? " I stepped back as he walked closer to me. The door was still open. I pulled out my poisonous dagger, and stabbed him in the gut. He was instantly paralyzed so I put my hands on his shoulders and flipped over him and through the doorway. I turned and looked into the house, everyone was scurrying down to catch me. I turned around and ran through the forest. I didn't stop running, I can kill them. But not in big numbers, it's much harder to kill an assassin than anything. My stamina was going down fast, it takes minutes to regenerate if you let it hit zero so I stopped for a moment. I was somewhere in the middle of a forest in the middle of the night. I don't know where to go, or what to do. I closed my eyes. _What am I going to do.._ I then felt a hand grip my throat.

" Taking a break, are we? " Ryan stood in front of me with a grin on his face.

" Put me down! " I yelled, and I saw Gabriel come running up behind him. He stopped and watched. " Gabriel help me! " I cried out, and he simply looked away.

" You idiot, hes here to kill you too. " Ryan gripped my throat tighter. " It's a shame we have to kill you so soon though. We could have had so much more fun! "

" Let me go! " Tears started fighting through my eyes, and I could hardly breathe.

" Oh, you're so cute when you cry! " He ran his free hand through my hair, " And the look on your face when you found out we killed your little friends, priceless! " He pulled out his dagger, and held it to my neck.

" PUT ME DOWN! " I screamed louder, someone from town has to hear me. Someone has to help.

Ryan then brought his head closer to my neck, I could feel his cold breath. It sent chills down my spine, he then brought his lips up to my ear. I could almost feel his lips touching me, " Silence. " He whispered. I then opened my mouth to scream, but nothing came out. He laughed at the sight of this. I tried to scream again, but I couldn't even hear the sound of my breathing anymore. I struggled and tried to scream, but no sound would escape from my body. Ryan then threw his dagger into my chest, and my HP dropped a little. He stabbed me a couple more times and my HP dropped more and more. He continued to stab me, over and over again. I was then at my last few HP points. " It's a shame to see you die so easily, Skye. I expected more from the 1st ranked assassin in the world. It's funny, you would probably correct me and tell me that you're second rank, but you can't talk. Besides, if the top rank is dead, the second rank takes his place. " I jumped from his words. _My father is dead..? _

" Ryan! " Gabriel shouted from the distance, and Ryan turned to look at him. He loosened his grip a little as he turned away. " Stop this. " He demanded.

" Oh, don't tell me you have a soft spot for this idiot. " Ryan replied.

" Why do we have to kill her? "

" Because those are our orders! An assassin follows his orders no matter what! "

I then kicked Ryan away from me as the argued, and I fell to the ground. He stopped and looked at me, and then lunged towards me with his dagger in front of him. Gabriel jumped in front of me and blocked Ryans attack with his sword. " Skye, run! " Gabriel yelled at me, as he fought Ryan back. I reached my hand out and tried to speak, but once again nothing came out. " Go! I'll find you. Just go! " He started struggling to fight back, so I turned around to run. I ran untill I could no longer hear the clashing of swords, and continued walking from there. _My whole family is dead.._ When I reached the town, I waited right at the gates. I wasn't worried about getting killed. The town is a safe zone, you can't die unless you're killed in a duel. I waited for Gabriel for hours, hoping he wasn't killed. But I didn't see him come through the gates. I could then feel myself falling asleep, when suddenly a hand grabbed my shoulder from behind. I jumped up and swung around and gripped my sword, ready to attack.

The mysterious person took off their hood. " Relax, it's just me! " It was Soren, I was glad to see him but wasn't sure if I could trust him. I didn't say a word, I couldn't even if I wanted to. " Hey, no need to be rude. " He exclamed. And I opened my mouth to try and reply but couldn't. I plopped my head down, what am I supposed to do if I can't speak. I pulled out my menu and sent Soren a typed message. _**Ryan silenced me. I can no longer speak. **_He looked at me, " Well then you're gonna love what I've got! Come with me. " He then led me to an inn, the bar was closed so there was no one in it. We sat down at a table and he began rummaging through his items. " Ahh, here is is. " He then pulled out a computer terminal, the same one Kain used to give everyone their special abilities. My face lit up, I can use it to remove the silence! " While all that chaos was going on, I managed to snatch it from Kains bedroom. " He smiled, and pushed it over to me. " Use it! "

I took it from his hands and opened it, it looked just like a computer screen, I found my way into the same document that Kain used to get us all of our powers. I typed in my name, and a screen showing me came up. It displayed my username, age, level, abilities, skill levels, and a bunch of other information. On " status effects " it said " Silenced " and beside it was a remove button, I clicked it and a screen appeared. " Voice recognition required. _SHIT! _I slammed my head down onto the desk.

" Oh.. I'm sorry Skye. " I picked myself up again, and hugged Soren from across the table and patted his head. It was actually great that we head it, whether we can use it or not. Now Kain can't use it to remove our powers or boost his! I smiled at him, and he smiled then told me all about why everything was going on. Apparentlty this whole thing was just a trick to try and wipe out my whole family, and the entire guild knew about it from the start. He also apologized for not telling me in the first place, I gave him an approval nod and he gave me a cute smile. I stretched out and yawned, I was tired. It was probably 2am, and still no sign of Gabriel. " You should probably get some sleep. " He said, and gave me a troubled look. I shook my head no, and headed outside. He stumbled around and followed right behind me. I walked to the entrance I was originally at, but Gabriel wasn't there. I then walked all over the town and looked around for him a bit. I slouched down agains't a building and rested my face on my palm. Soren looked down on me with a worried look.

He then gasped, and put his hood on and threw his cloak over me. " Gabriel is here.. " He whispered, with a trembling voice. My head perked up and I ran out from under the cloak, I grabbed Gabriels cloak and he looked down on me.

" There you are.. " He put his hand on my shoulder. " Are you alright? " I nodded, and he looked at me with surprise. " Oh, thats right.. You can't speak... " I nodded again, and then Soren came up behind us.

" So you're on our side then? " Soren asked.

" Obviously! Where were you when Ryan was about to kill her!? Running away, am I right? " Gabriel snapped. _Have they always faught like this? _

" For your information I was busy stealking Kain's computer terminal! " Soren yelled back

" What good would that be if she had died!? " Gabriel shouted. I stepped back, this wasn't my argument so I didn't want to be in the middle of it. They both looked at me and laughed, " Oh don't worry Skye, siblings fight all the time, right? " He nudges Soren, and he nodded his head. _SIBLINGS!? _My face became pale white and emotionless, and I looked back and forth at Soren and then Gabriel. _They do kind of look alike, now that they mention it.. _

" Hahaha ! Hey I don't think she knew we were brothers! " Soren giggled.

" I think you're right.. " Gabriel looked at me funny, and then poked my nose. " You have to be a real idiot not to notice.. " He teased, and I made an angry face at him but it was interrupted by a yawn. " We could all use some rest right about now, " Gabriel said, and I looked around. _Nothing is open anymore.. We can't rent a room anywhere. _I then took a thick cape out of my inventory, and placed in on the ground against the building and layed down on it and used my cloak as a blanket. " I guess thats our only option right now.. " Soren and Gabriel then did the same thing, across from me and we all fell asleep in the middle of the town.


End file.
